| | News and Resources for Inspired Leadership
| December 2005
| Upcoming Events
| Building Your Capacity to Revitalize Downtown
Sponsored by Connecticut Main Street Center, featuring Kent Burnes of Burnes
Consulting. January 27, 2006. More
5th Annual New Partners for Smart Growth Conference
January 26-28, 2006, Denver, Colorado, featuring cutting-edge smart growth
issues, the latest research, implementation tools and strategies, successful
case studies, interactive learning experiences, new partners, new projects and
new policies. More
| Funding
| Stamford Group Wins EPA Brownfields Funding
The EPA announced yesterday that The Workplace, Inc. of Stamford is one of 12
recipients of a brownfields job training grant program for 2006. The grant will
target 8,000 residents of the South End and Waterside neighborhoods, where
unemployment and poverty rates are high. As Stamford transformed from a
manufacturing center into a corporate hub during the last decade, these
neighborhoods were left with vacant factories, abandoned sites, and over 200
acres of brownfields. Local demand for skilled workers is high, as evidenced
by a recent community audit that found that over half of local environmental
employers are having difficulty filling entry-level positions. The Workplace plans
to train 54 students, place at least 45 graduates in environmental jobs, and
track them for at least one year. The Workplace will use a competitive bidding
process to select organizations to provide candidate screening, training, and
job placement services. More
Smart Growth Implementation Assistance Opportunities
Deadline for applications is fast approaching
The EPA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), and
American Institute of Architects (AIA) have developed technical assistance
programs for communities that want sustainable development guidance. It's
not too late, but the deadline for applications is fast approaching: Applications
are due January 6, 2006. For more information, see last month's issue of this
newsletter and the EPA website.
| Sustainable
Development
| Local Election Winners Urged to Get Smart About Growth Now
A New London Day editor advises elected municipal officials to "study up on
'Smart Growth'," to become true experts on the approach they sometimes
advocated "without understanding all its implication and ideals." Smart Growth,
the editor writes, "depends on all the players -- land-use officials, users of
highways and water systems and breathers of air -- knowing as much as the
developer about the pros and cons of the proposal . . . 'Don't let people wonder
40 years from now what this region would have been like if only officials had
looked beyond their own town lines,'' the editor pleads. More
Rural Planning Survey Seeks Input on Land Use & Transportation
Representatives of rural communities, and those who serve or study them, are
encouraged to participate in a landmark study of issues and best practices in
rural land use and transportation planning, through an online survey
accessible through January 15, 2006. The Transportation Research Board of
the National Academies will publish its findings in The findings will be
published The study will be published as a guidebook for rural planners,
scheduled for distribution in the fall of 2006. More
Traffic Calming Practices Revisited
A new Institute of Transportation Engineers publication summarizes a 2004
survey of traffic calming practices in 21 leading jurisdictions. The results are
compared to surveys conducted for the national report almost a decade ago.
This survey is the first detailed look at U.S. traffic calming programs since
surveys conducted for a 1997 report of the Institute of Transportation Engineers
and the Federal Highway Administration. More
Community Land Trusts Part of Affordable Housing Strategy
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is providing a $396,000
grant to launch a citywide Community Land Trust in Chicago. Over the next
three years, the trust will aim to oversee the development of 300 new
subsidized homes and condominiums on city-owned lots. To keep city-funded
homes affordable over the long term, the trust will lease the properties to
owners through long-term, renewable ground leases. Deed restrictions will
guarantee the future affordability of the condominiums. People will be able to
resell the homes but only at preset rates likely capping their profits at about 25
percent, said the city's housing commissioner. More
Sierra Club Names America’s Best New Development
The Sierra Club recently released its first Guide to America's Best New
Development, including write-ups of a dozen cutting edge projects that have
positively transformed neighborhoods. By promoting and creating the kinds of
development that Americans DO want, the Sierra Club believes we can build
and produce healthy and livable communities. According to the Sierra Club's
Executive Director Carl Pope, "Our hope is that Americans will look at these
winning projects and demand better projects in their own communities." More
Updated Paper Addresses Criticisms of Smart Growth
An updated paper examines the contentions of specific critics of sustainable
development, like Randal O’Toole and Wendell Cox, as well as others.
The author concludes that while some of the more thoughtful skeptics raise
issues that should be addressed to optimize smart growth, the most-repeated
criticisms are becoming increasingly easy to dispel. More
| Public Policy
| The Young and Restless in a Knowledge Economy
While many cities are still focused on business climate and tax incentives, it's
the cities that attract young, college-educated workers that are really positioned
for success. Find out why in this new study from CEOs for Cities, a network of
mayors, corporate CEOs, university presidents, foundation officials and
business and civic leaders from America’s leading cities. More
Benchmarks Report Perspectives & Responses
CERC, The Connecticut Economic Resource Center, facilitated a recent
discussion of its Benchmarks report among people in state and local
government, economic development, business and education. Read their
thoughts on what we as stakeholders of the Connecticut economy be doing in
response to this report, and what should we do to address these issues in the
Northeast? More
Tall Order for Governor's Competitiveness Council
Unless Connecticut's C+ economy is good enough (see http://results.
gpponline.org), we'd better get serious about setting and meeting high
standards for accountabilty, and proactively and continuously reinvent ourselves
to avoid the predictable fate of becoming just another rustbelt state full of empty
factories. Our unelected officials, in the form of the Governor’s Competitiveness
Council, can do something about that. More
| Technology
| Looking for a New Year's Resolution?
"Far too often, the first time that users really think about backup is after their
hard drive fidgets, burps, and dies." Getting your data back after a major
computer disaster is an expensive, and uncertain, proposition. I was lucky, but
it cost me. I now have a Western Digital external 120 gig backup hard drive
($89 after rebates, at Best Buy) that automatically backs up my files according
to the schedule I set. If you don't have a data backup plan in place, getting one
would be a new year's resolution that's easy to accomplish. See Backup
Basics; Backup Plan; and Data Disasters.
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